Code: MIA
by EeveeAlchemist2.0
Summary: A bug in Aelita's materialization program causes a malfunction in the process, and as a result, Aelita isn't transferred to Kadic, or France for the matter. Instead, she ends up in the hands of Sakura and Kenta, two children from the USA. Can these new allies somehow get Aelita back to France before X.A.N.A. rears his ugly head? (Revised version). JxA, UxY, OxOC? Before Evolution.


Chapter 1

" _September fourteenth, 2004._

 _I've finally reached a turning point on Aelita's materialization program._

 _So many months I've been working on this, with no progress at all. I've tried everything I could possibly think of to no avail. Yet, the answer has been in front of me all along! I'd been focusing only on my current location, and only utilizing the capabilities of Kadic and the abandoned factory. But there was a very important detail I've been forgetting, an essential research element that I could have been using this entire time._

 _The Internet._

 _It's still fairly new to us, as far as global access. But just think! If I were able to tap into it and gain further information from other users, I could get so much closer to completing Aelita's program in a fraction of the time I may have spent not doing this. That's exactly what I did. I spent the past two weeks searching the global network for other programmers and more information. And what I found was the work of a genius. The author was anonymous, but whoever it was knew a LOT about programming and interfaces of virtual worlds. That includes information about the virtualization and de-virtualization processes. What's more, the author seemed to know a lot about virtual worlds, such as Lyoko. While that makes me nervous, I couldn't resist using this information to complete the program._

 _All of the tests I've run have come out positive._

 _It's time to finally bring Aelita into the real world. I'll tell the gang later. They'll kill me for hiding it, but I can't wait a moment longer. Goodbye for now._

Jeremie Belpois closed his video journal, making sure to save and lock it into his private folder. He heaved a sigh of determination, then stood, grabbing the round CD out of his computer. He stared at it for what seemed like an eternity, then finally placed the CD into it's plain, gray case.

The blonde smiled. "This is it. This time… This time, it _has_ to work."

* * *

Kadic Academy was always very quiet, if not silent, at night. School rules declared that "lights out" was always every night at 9PM sharp. Any student caught roaming the halls after 9PM would likely be suspended. Now, Jeremie Belpois was a perfect, straight-A student. He had never gotten into any sort of trouble (unless you counted that one time he spray-painted a horrid picture of Jim on the school brick wall, and that was to get out of _leaving_ school), but that didn't mean that he didn't look for trouble. Jeremie, secretly, quite enjoyed breaking the rules sometimes. Especially if it was to help his friends.

Even more so if it was for a certain pink haired girl.

Jeremie quietly opened his room door, peering cautiously into the hallway. The coast was clear, not a soul in sight. Closing the door again, he took a brief moment to slip the CD program into his sweatshirt pocket and remove his shoes. Wearing only socks would reduce the amount of creaks the stairs would make as he made his escape, after all. Then, with shoes in hand, he opened the door again, did a final check, and began his painfully nerve wracking journey down the hall. He slipped down the floor, raising his knees unusually high with every carefully placed step, his toes doing most of the work for him. The hardwood flooring bit at his exposed skin, even through his socks, the cold lacing through his feet and up his spine to make him shiver. These were the winter months, and he knew the cold outside would be much worse. He didn't look forward to it in the least - the very thought made his teeth chatter. But he pushed those thoughts away and ignored the cold of the floor, pressing forward.

It was all for the cause; for the world's sake. To him, most importantly, for _her_ sake.

He passed through the boy's dormitory without much of a problem and tiptoed his way downstairs. His shoes swung gently from his fingertips as he began to make his way towards the doors, the increasingly cold air and gentle light from the outside headlamps bringing a flooding sense of relief to him. It was just a few more strides, he could make it!

His hand touched the cool metal of the door handle. Jim's snores filled the eerie silence, and Jeremie waited for a painstakingly long moment to make sure that the gym teacher wouldn't come up from his deep state of sleep. Then, when he was absolutely sure, the boy pushed the door open and stepped into the cool night air. His socks met unpleasantly with pooled moisture on the concrete pathway and some stray raindrops attacked his glasses, but this didn't stop Jeremie. Nothing would tonight.

Within minutes he had crossed the school grounds and reached a clearing in the park adjacent to the campus. The rain had picked up within this time; icy raindrops fell from the heavens and struck Jeremie's glasses and clothes with vigor. Cold laced up the blonde's spine as his hands worked clumsily around the manhole he knelt beside, trying to grip and pull the piece of metal aside. It was a bit harder to do in the chilly night-time, but he managed to pull the metal aside to reveal a ladder heading deep into the sewers. The smell hit him a moment after he pulled the cover away; an agonizingly putrid smell that usually warranted a gag or a turning of the head. The Lyoko warriors had done that the first few times, sure. Now, at least to the blonde, it was strangely inviting. The smell of the sewers meant the factory was close, and the factory meant that Aelita would be there waiting for him.

Motivated further, Jeremie lowered himself onto the ladder, his foot momentarily slipping from the moisture, causing his heart to jump. He steadied himself and took a second to catch his breath, then closed the cover above him, barring any unwanted followers. It took him a minute more to lower himself completely down the ladder and land on the concrete sidewalk, next to rushing sewer water. And there at the bottom, waiting for him, was a scooter and three skateboards. With a bit of a smile, he grabbed his precious scooter and began to unfold it, his feet carrying him simultaneously towards the next opening located about a mile away. His scooter unfolded with ease, and he paused only to board it and continue his journey at a slightly faster pace.

He reached the second ladder in good time, folding his scooter once more and beginning his climb towards the surface. He reached the second manhole and pushed the cover away to step onto solid ground, grateful that the rain had hadn't yet reached the factory. Before him loomed the massive structure in question, dark and mysterious as it had been the day he had discovered it more than a year ago. It had intimidated him on that first day, and he had almost neglected to enter it at all, had it not been for the parts he needed to finish an old robot of his.

How he praised that piece of work. The robot had failed initially in it's programmed function: folding clothing so he wouldn't have to do it himself. Yet, it had lead him to the most beautiful piece of machinery he had ever seen… And, by extension, the love of his life.

Jeremie reminisced for a moment, then began his trek into the factory walls. He entered through the second story bridge and raced towards the staircase that had long since broken down. The stairs were nonexistent at this point, hardly a trace of them to be seen. Instead, four long ropes hung from the ceiling and dropped down to where the stairs used to be, ending just a few feet from the rickety elevator. Jeremie didn't allow the drop to scare him like it normally did. In his rush, he jumped from the ledge without a moment's hesitation and flailed, his fingers snagging the farthest left rope. He swung forwards a bit wildly, then loosened his fingers and slid down the rope, landing clumsily in front of the elevator. He wasted no time, pushing his cold self into the hunk of metal and pushing the looming red button inside.

The elevator roared to life, pulsing once with energy before the doors slowly closed on Jeremie. The blonde calmly rode the elevator down to the basement, punching in a code once the elevator came to a slow halt at his destination. The doors opened with a lock and a hiss, a draft of air pushing his short hair backwards. He waited impatiently for the elevator to stabilize, then jumped off of it and raced into the room.

It was dark and cold, but Jeremie felt most comfortable in this room. In it's center lied the very thing that he had focused on for the past year and a half, the source of all of his hard work. A massive piece of equipment greeted him, set up with four monitors and a holographic interface towards the left of the setup. Wires and cables littered the floor in masses, leading from the monitors all the way down to the lower floors, and all of it came together to form the super-calculator.

With a slight grin, Jeremie seated himself in the yellow motorized chair and spun himself towards the monitors. The middle one lit up immediately, prompting him for a code, which he rapidly typed in. His thin hand reached for an old headset that he had hooked up to the computer long ago, and he hooked it into his ear before beginning to type again. The interface loaded up quickly, and Jeremie gave himself a moment to breathe before speaking into the headset microphone. "Aelita? Are you awake?"

No response for a moment. Jeremie smiled, then tried again as Lyoko lit up all four monitors, greeting him. "Aelita?"

Another moment, then, finally, a shift on the main monitor. An image formed on the screen - a video chat of sorts. And in the center of the monitor, the face of the only girl that could make Jeremie's heart dance.

Aelita, in her virtual model, looked much like an angel. She had a heart-like shaped face and a cream colored skin tone. Her hair was very short, her bright pink locks barely covering her ears. In the virtual world, it all seemed to form together in an unrealistic image, and made her seem somewhat unreal to him. The most real thing about her, though, was her eyes. Jeremie's heart fluttered as he focused in on her curious emerald gaze. No matter how virtual she was, Aelita's eyes betrayed emotion, something that anything unreal couldn't begin to create.

He loved the look of her eyes… They were how he knew, just _knew_ that Aelita was real, and could be brought to Earth.

Her calm voice flooded into his right ear, making his lips quirk into a smile. "Jeremie, hello! Why are you up so late?" Time was a concept that Aelita understood well; since the supercomputer could understand it, so could she.

Jeremie quickly responded, wasting no time. "Aelita, finally! I'm so glad to see you." He spoke the truth, he really was glad to see her.

His reply prompted a chuckle from the, _for now,_ artificial intelligence. "I see that. But aren't you always glad to see me? What's so special about this visit?" Her eyes glinted with amusement, and Jeremie caught it, chuckling himself.

"Well, I came here to test something out. I've been working all night, Aelita, and I think I've finally figured out your materialization program."

A gasp of surprise and bubbling excitement met his ears. "Really? You've done it at last?"

His smile widened, and he brushed the disc case from within his pocket. "Yes, I think so. But I need you to get to a waytower first so I can initiate the program. I've tested it a few times, so I have no doubt that it's going to work. Soon, Aelita, you'll be here with us in flesh and blood!"

Aelita giggled gently. "I really can't wait, Jeremie. But where is everyone else? I don't see them with you."

Jeremie waved off her comment. "I didn't want to wake them up. It's late where we are, and if I wake up Ulrich and Odd, there's a chance that they'll be caught by Jim. Yumi will almost undoubtedly be caught by her parents. Don't worry about it, okay? You remember the plan you and Odd came up with, right?"

"Yes, Jeremie. I'm supposed to be Odd's cousin, Aelita Stones, from… Erm.."

Jeremie smiled, encouraging her. "Canada. It's a country to the east of France, where we are."

Aelita nodded, standing. "Okay then. I'm on my way to the Forest sector. If I have any trouble, I'll let you know."

Jeremie cracked his knuckles. "Okay. In the meantime, I'll get this program started up. Be safe, Aelita."

"I will, Jeremie." The video connection cut off, replaced by an interface map and an icon showing Aelita's location. Jeremie kept an eye on it, rapidly typing a few commands before lifting his fingers from the keyboard to grasp the disc. It's plain surface beckoned him, and he eyed the object for a moment, his breath catching in his throat.

This was it. This was the day they had all been waiting for. Aelita was going to be materialized tonight. He entered the disc into the sub-computer.

The program whirred to life. Jeremie sighed and focused.

He could do this.

* * *

Aelita's image popped up onto his monitor again, a few minutes later. "Jeremie, I'm here. Not a single monster in sight… Isn't that strange?"

Jeremie was far too focused on his work to acknowledge X.A.N.A's strange behavior. If there were no monsters to stop him, then more power to the Lyoko gang. At this point, all Jeremie cared about was getting Aelita to Earth.

"Don't worry about X.A.N.A., Aelita. I'm sure he's just asleep. Get ready now, it's almost ready."

From deep within the waytower, Aelita began to hesitantly approach the middle platform where the light of a program worked into existence. She frowned, pausing. "Jeremie, you know very well that programs don't-!"

Jeremie cut her off. "Aelita, it's ready. Get onto the platform now, hurry!"

Not wanting to miss her chance, Aelita pushed her suspicions away and rapidly stepped onto the middle platform. Immediately, her virtual body was lifted into the void of space above and then suspended in the middle of the tower itself. Bits of code began to rush in different directions around her, twisting and manipulating in time with Jeremie's real world commands. She shut her eyes and slowly held her hands out, allowing the program to take ahold of her. This was Jeremie. She could trust him…

Right?

A sudden blaring snapped Jeremie out of his concentration, and his fingers swiped at a wrong key. A large "error" screen lit across all four monitors, mocking him, screaming at him through his headset. Panic-stricken, the boy began to yell loudly into the headset. "Aelita! Aelita, can you hear me?!"

No response came from the girl in question. Jeremie furiously typed away at his keyboard, navigating codes in breathtaking pace, trying to find the source of the error within his program. "Aelita, please, if you can hear me, say something!"

Silence met him for another few seconds before her voice reached him, cutting off in several increments, "Jer… mie! I- There's… Wrong with… Program! It's- ...Stopping!"

Jeremie froze, finally pinpointing the problem. "Oh no, it can't be! The program's bugged up! I tested it so many times, how could it be bugged up now?!"

"JEREMIE!"

Aelita's cry sounded pained. Jeremie quickly flung his mouse into the upper right hand corner of the screen, pulling up a visual of the tower. The sight that met him made his heart plummett to his stomach. Aelita was slowly disappearing. The program had not stopped it's course, even as he had tried to shut it down just seconds before.

The program had bugged up, and Jeremie was completely out of control.

"Aelita! Aelita, try to get away!"

He knew it was pointless, but he tried to gain control anyway. Aelita's marker blinked several rapid times.

And then it vanished altogether.

"Aelita? AELITA!"

The room was deadly quiet, save for the blinking error codes. Jeremie's hands stalled as he listened, desperately, for any return sound. He received none.

Balling his hands into fists, the blonde angrily struck his keyboard and tore off his headset, rushing down to the scanner room below. He punched the button on the elevator, ignoring the pain in his knuckles from the force of it, and nearly knocked himself over stepping through the doors too early. Carelessly, Jeremie ran towards the whirring scanner that he had activated for Aelita's materialization.

It opened a second later to reveal absolutely nothing but steam and smoke. Drained, Jeremie hit his knees, letting out a cry of frustration and disbelief.

She was gone. The girl of his dreams, the girl he had been ready to sacrifice everything for, the girl he was _so ready_ to see in flesh and blood, was gone.

And it was all his fault.

* * *

AN: Hey guys! Back again with a "return to the past." Get it? Eh? Ehhh?

Anyway, I really wanted to finish this story, and I'm making some vast improvements. I've been revisiting Code Lyoko a bit, and I know how to tie up my loose ends on this story now, I believe. Good thing, too. This story was one of my originals, and I plan on completing it.

To clear up any confusion: this chapter is set during the end of season one, around episode 25 - Code: Earth. Therefore this story is set before the events of Evolution, and characters such as Laura will not be appearing in this story except for, perhaps, slight cameos.

See you all next time.

\- EA


End file.
